Aqueous emulsions of organopolysiloxanes have been applied to organic fibers to improve their resistance to shrinkage and to impart a durable soft handle. U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,459 to Burrill, for example, discloses treating wool with an aqueous emulsion containing (A) a diorganopolysiloxane having a Si-bonded hydroxyl group in each terminal unit and whose organic radicals are free of basic nitrogen; (B) an organosilane containing an organic radical which contains a basic nitrogen atom or a partial hydrolyzate of such organosilane or the reaction product of component (A) with such organosilane or partial hydrolyzate thereof; and possibly (C) a silane containing 3 or 4 SiOC-bonded alkyl or alkoxyalkylene radicals as well as; (D) a condensation catalyst. Koerner et al, however, disclose in U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,179 that such emulsions are unstable.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide stable aqueous emulsions. Another object of the present invention is to provide stable aqueous emulsions which may be applied to fibers. Still another object of the present invention is to provide stable aqueous emulsions which impart a pleasant hand and high resilience to fibers. A further object of the present invention is to provide treated fibers which will have a pleasant hand and high resilience after repeated cleanings in water or organic solvents. A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for preparing stable aqueous emulsions which may be applied to fibers.